Posts filed under ‘Army’

Snowfall, Arlington Virginia.

We had snow in the Washington area this week. Pretty as it fell, there was enough to closes area schools and many Federal government facilities for the day, but not Arlington National Cemetery.

In Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital, soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment’s Caisson Platoon trooped through the snows in a funeral procession on March 21, 2018.

This scene calls to mind the last lines of Irish writer James Joyce’s novel, The Dead.

The snow “lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.”

Known as “The Old Guard,” the 3rd Infantry is the oldest, active duty regiment in the U.S. Army. In addition to honor guard duties at Arlington, the White House and elsewhere, the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry guard the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington.

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What is That?

When we first saw the thumbnail version of this photo on the Defense Department website, our was reaction was: “What is that thing?”

What do you think it looks like? Please post a comment below.

According to the DoD (Department of Defense), it’s a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, a rotor craft we’ve seen many times here at 4GWAR — but never from this angle.

The photo was taken February 21, 2018 after the chopper dropped off the soldiers shown taking up defensive positions during an air assault training mission at Fort Drum in far northern New York. The fort is home to the 10th Mountain Division.

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In the Red.

In case you forgot, there’s still a shooting war going on in Afghanistan, although U.S. troops are deployed largely in advisory and support roles.

As a reminder, here we see U.S. soldiers firing an 81 mm mortar to support Afghan soldiers during OperationMaiwand 10 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on December 26, 2017. The U.S. soldiers — assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment — fired multiple illumination rounds to light the nearby area of Marjah, in southern Afghanistan, where Afghan soldiers encountered a nighttime ambush.

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Welcome to Soggy Bottom.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Armando R. Limon)

Soldiers make a beach landing with combat rubber raiding craft during waterborne training in Hawaii on November 29, 2017. Most people think “Marine Corps” when they see amphibious operations like these. But the troops hitting the beach in this photo are actually soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division’s, legendary 4th Cavalry Regiment, and 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

While the Army provided the troops and equipment, the Marines supplied the beach: Marine Corps Training Area Bellows.

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Wait, what?!!

(U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Caitlyn Smoyer)

Sergeant Rocky, the 3rd Infantry Division’s mascot, jumps over obstacles behind a soldier during a competition at Fort Stewart, Georgia. The November 13 event was part of Marne Week 2017, a celebration of the division’s centennial.

The mascot’s name and Marne Week derive from the division’s World War I nickname: “The Rock of the Marne.” According to the website, Global Security, the division was activated at Camp Greene, North Carolina 100 years ago this month.

Eight months later, at midnight on July 14, 1918 the Division went into combat for the first time. As a member of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe, the Division earned its name as the “Rock of the Marne,” when it stuck to its position after surrounding allied units retreated during the Second Battle of the Marne. Casualties were very high but the German advance was driven off.

3rd Infantry Division shoulder patch (U.S. Army image)

In World War II, General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. led the division in battles in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. The 3rd ID saw 531 continuous days of combat — the only Army division to fight the Axis on every European front — in places like Casablanca, Anzio, Tome, the Vosges Mountains, Colmar, the Siegfried Line, Palermo, Nurnberg, Munich, Berchtesgaden, and Salzburg. Lieutenant Audie Murphy, the most decorated U.S. soldier in World War II, was a member of the 3rd ID.

The division also fought in the Korean War. One brigade fought in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and Marne division units deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan in ensuing years. Last year, one of the division’s battalions was posted to Ukraine in support of Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine.

Designated a mechanized infantry division, the 3rd ID is now part of the XVIII Airborne Corps, based at based at Fort Stewart and Fort Benning, Georgia.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In case you’re wondering, Sgt. Rocky the 3rd ID mascot is a bulldog and shouldn’t be confused with Sgt. Rock of Easy Company.

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Soldiers with the Puerto Rico Army National Guard’s 190th Engineer Battalion from Juncos, Puerto Rico, pick up a section of a 40-foot bridge being built for the citizens of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, on October 27, 2017.

These soldiers are with the aptly named 892nd Multi Role Bridge Company. Below is a photo of the gap the new bridge will cross. The span will provide the municipalities of Quebradillas, San Sebastian, and Isabela with a functional bridge until the bridges around the Guajataca Dam, destroyed by Hurricane Maria, are repaired.